ly to save wear by changing
its position within the sheath.

Several substitutes have been tried in place of the Japanese baren,
with coverings of leather, shark's skin, celluloid, and various other
materials, but these necessitate the use of a backing sheet to protect
the paper from their harsh surfaces.

An ingenious rubber of ribbed glass which works directly on the paper
has been devised by Mr. William Giles, who has produced beautiful
results by its means.

If one is using the Japanese baren, its surface needs to be kept very
slightly oiled to enable it to run freely over the damp paper. A pad of
paper with a drop of sweet oil suffices for this, and may lie on the
right of the printing block where the baren is put after each impression
is taken.

An even simpler method is that of the Japanese craftsman who rubs the
baren from time to time on the back of his head.

BRUSHES

Japanese printing brushes are sold by some artists' colour dealers, but
these are not essential, nor have they any practical superiority over
well-made Western brushes.

[Illustration: FIG. 20.--Drawing of brushes.]

An excellent type of brush is that made of black Siberian bear hair for
fine varnishing. These can be had from good brush-makers with the hair
fixed so that it will stand soaking in water. Drawings of the type of
brush are given above.

Three or four are sufficient; one broad brush, about three inches, for
large spaces, one two-inch, and two one-inch, will do nearly all that is
needed. Occasionally a smaller brush may be of use.

PRINTING

To begin printing, one takes first the key-block, laying it upon a wet
sheet of unsized paper, or upon wads of wet paper under each corner of
the block, which will keep it quite steady on the work-table. A batch
of sheets of printing paper, prepared and damped as described in Chapter
V, lies between boards just beyond the block. The pad lies close to the
block at the right on oily paper pinned to the table. To the right also
are a dish or plate on which a little ink is spread, the printing brush
(broad for the key-block), a saucer containing fresh paste, a bowl of
water, a small sponge, and a cloth. Nothing else is needed, and it is
best to keep the table clear of unnecessary pots or colour bottles.

When these things are ready one should see that the paper is in a good
state. It should be rather drier for a key-block than for other blocks,
as a fine line will print thickly if t